Hugo (movie)
Hugo is a 2011 British-American-French historical family mystery adventure drama film based on Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Released in theaters on November 23, 2011, it is director Martin Scorsese's first foray into 3D filmmaking. The film comes out in two different versions: the original live-action film, and the alternative live-action/animated film. Plot Original version In 1931, 12-year-old Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives in Paris with his father, a widowed, but kind and devoted master clockmaker. Hugo's father (Jude Law) takes him to see films and loves those of Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley) best of all. When Hugo's father dies in a museum fire, Hugo is taken away by his alcoholic uncle Claude (Ray Winstone), who maintains the clocks in the railway station of Gare Montparnasse. Claude teaches him how to tend to the clocks, then disappears. Hugo lives a secretive life in the station's hidden chambers and passageways, maintaining the clocks, avoiding the vindictive Station Inspector Gustave (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his Doberman Maximilian, and working on his father's most ambitious project: repairing a broken automaton—a mechanical man designed to write with a pen. Hugo begins stealing the parts he needs for the automaton, but a toy-store owner catches him and confiscates his carefully drawn blueprints. The automaton is missing a critical part: a heart-shaped key. Convinced the machine contains a message from his father, Hugo goes to desperate lengths to fix it. He gains the assistance of Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), the toy shop owner's goddaughter who becomes his partner. He introduces her to the movies, which her godfather has never let her see. Remarkably, Isabelle turns out to have the automaton's key. When they use it to activate the automaton, it produces a drawing of a film scene Hugo remembers his father telling him about. Hugo and Isabelle discover that the film is called "A Trip to the Moon", which was created by Isabelle's godfather, Georges Méliès (a cinema legend, now neglected and disillusioned), and that the automaton was his beloved creation from his days as a magician. The duo head to the Méliès household, where they find a cache of the filmmaker's fantastic drawings that have a connection with the drawing made by the automaton. However, Méliès catches them in the act, admonishes Isabelle, and banishes Hugo from their home. The next day, Hugo and Isabelle travel to Paris' great Film Academy Library, where they find a book with photos and biographical information about Méliès. The duo meet René Tabard (Michael Stuhlbarg), a film expert who venerates Méliès, and who, like most of the film world, assumes Méliès is dead, as he was never seen after World War I brought an abrupt halt to his career. René shows Hugo and Isabelle the collection of rare Méliès memorabilia in his Library office. Isabelle informs René that Méliès is alive and living in Paris, then invites him to reunite with Méliès. René becomes incredulous, then excited at the possibility of meeting the great man again. Hugo and Isabelle take René to the Méliès home, where they encounter Méliès's wife, Jeanne (Helen McCrory), whom René immediately recognizes as the star of many of Méliès's films. René, who has brought along a small projector, shows the group his copy of "A Trip to the Moon", one of Méliès's surviving films. When Méliès finds the four in his parlour, he is outraged, but Jeanne convinces him to cherish his glorious accomplishments rather than regretting his lost dream. He recounts his history as a film-maker and his bankruptcy during The Great War (World War I), finishing with the sad tale of donating his beloved automaton to a museum, where it was ignored and destroyed in a fire. Realizing that his automaton is Méliès's creation, Hugo races back to the train station to retrieve it. However, he is spotted by Inspector Gustave, who chases Hugo through the station. As he approaches one of the train platforms, Hugo stumbles and the automaton flies from his grasp, landing on the tracks. As he struggles to retrieve it, a train approaches, and the Inspector rescues Hugo and the automaton a split second before the train would have crushed them. As the Inspector is about to take Hugo to the orphanage, Méliès arrives and claims Hugo as his child, and he decided to go with them. Alternative version In 1931, 12-year-old Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) lives in Paris with his father, a widowed, but kind and devoted master clockmaker, and his three experiment pets, consisting of Experiment 613 (Yaarp), Experiment 608 (Slugger), and Experiment 619 (Splodyhead). Hugo's father (Jude Law) takes him and his pets to see films and loves those of Georges Méliès (Ben Kingsley) best of all. Hugo also likes to feed Splodyhead popcorn when he and his father are at the movies with him, Yaarp, and Slugger. Unfortunately, Splodyhead accidentally causes Hugo's father to perish in a museum fire, and ends up being charged with murder due to being involved in the incident he had inadvertently caused, despite Hugo's efforts to defend him. As a result, Hugo and his pets, including Splodyhead, are taken away by Hugo's alcoholic uncle Claude (Ray Winstone), who maintains the clocks in the railway station of Gare Montparnasse. Claude teaches Hugo how to tend to the clocks and how to protect Splodyhead (as he believes the experiment is innocent), then disappears. Hugo lives a secretive life in the station's hidden chambers and passageways with his pets, maintaining the clocks, avoiding the vindictive Station Inspector Gustave (Sacha Baron Cohen) and his Doberman Maximilian, and working on his father's most ambitious project: repairing a broken automaton—a mechanical man designed to write with a pen. Hugo begins stealing the parts he needs for the automaton with Yaarp and Slugger, but a toy-store owner catches the three and confiscates Hugo's carefully drawn blueprints. The automaton is missing a critical part: a heart-shaped key. Convinced the machine contains a message from his father, Hugo goes to desperate lengths to fix it. To this end, Hugo and his pets go to the toy shop owner's house, where they meet his goddaughter Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), who, like Hugo, also has three experiment pets: Experiment 523 (Slushy), Experiment 513 (Richter), and Experiment 221 (Sparky). Isabelle realizes the current situation Splodyhead is in, and decides to become his lawyer while also becoming Hugo's partner. She provides a special disguise for Splodyhead so that anyone who suspects him as a murderer will be unable to recognize him. Hugo introduces her to the movies, which her godfather has never let her see. Remarkably, Isabelle turns out to have the automaton's key, but when they use it to activate the automaton, it produces two drawings, one on each side: one of a film scene Hugo remembers his father telling him about, and the other of what appears to be a comic strip featuring Splodyhead's rescue attempt, plus some tips on how to prove the experiment's innocence after the attempt failed. On the first drawing, Hugo, Isabelle, Yaarp, Slugger, Splodyhead, Slushy, Richter, and Sparky discover that the film is called "A Trip to the Moon", and that it was created by Isabelle's godfather, Georges Méliès, who was a cinema legend, but is now neglected and disillusioned. On the second drawing, they discover that the automaton, which was Méliès's beloved creation from his days as a magician, might be linked to Splodyhead. The duo and their pets head to the Méliès household, where they find a cache of the filmmaker's fantastic drawings that have a connection with the first drawing. However, Méliès catches them in the act, and Splodyhead inadvertently reveals himself. He, Hugo, Yaarp, and Slugger are banished from Méliès's home. The next day, Hugo and Isabelle travel to Paris' great Film Academy Library with their pets, where they find a book with photos and biographical information about Méliès. Hugo, Isabelle, Yaarp, Slugger, Splodyhead, Slushy, Richter, and Sparky meet René Tabard (Michael Stuhlbarg), a film expert who venerates Méliès, and who, like most of the film world, assumes Méliès is dead, as he was never seen after World War I brought an abrupt halt to his career. René shows Hugo, Isabelle, Yaarp, Slugger, Splodyhead, Slushy, Richter, and Sparky the collection of rare Méliès memorabilia in his Library office. After Isabelle informs René that Méliès is alive and living in Paris, Hugo explains to him that Splodyhead is in trouble, as he accidentally killed his father while trying to rescue him, and shows him the automaton's drawing featuring the experiment. Upon seeing that drawing, René tells Hugo that he will help him find evidence so that he can prove that Splodyhead is innocent and not guilty. Isabelle explains to René how she became Splodyhead's lawyer, then invites him to reunite with Méliès. René becomes incredulous, then excited at the possibility of meeting the great man again. Hugo and Isabelle take René to the Méliès home with their pets, where they encounter Méliès's wife, Jeanne (Helen McCrory), whom René immediately recognizes as the star of many of Méliès's films. Hugo is able to talk sense in Jeanne by showing her the automaton's drawing featuring Splodyhead, and René uses a small projector he brought along to show the group his copy of "A Trip to the Moon", one of Méliès's surviving films. When Méliès finds the nine in his parlour (the tenth, Splodyhead, hid under the table), he is outraged, but Jeanne convinces him to cherish his glorious accomplishments rather than regretting his lost dream. As Splodyhead slowly starts to emerge from his hiding place, Méliès recounts his history as a film-maker and his bankruptcy during The Great War (World War I), finishing with the sad tale of a crime scene that occurred after donating his beloved automaton to a museum: it was ignored and destroyed in a fire that was caused by an experiment, whom he thaught was the murderer. However, that experiment wasn't, and the only key that can support the experiment's innocence is his lost automaton. After realizing that the experiment in question Méliès had talked about was Splodyhead, Hugo is informed by René that a full-working automaton (which was Méliès's creation but currently belongs to Hugo) can act as evidence in order to prove Splodyhead's innocence, alongside its drawing featuring the experiment. Equipped with this information, Hugo leaves the automaton's drawing with Isabelle, then races back to the train station with Splodyhead, determined to retrieve the automaton so that he can prove that Splodyhead is really innocent once and for all. Hugo and Splodyhead enter the train station, but are spotted by Inspector Gustave, who chases them through the station. As he and Splodyhead approach one of the train platforms, Hugo stumbles and the automaton flies from his grasp. Splodyhead tries to catch it, but is unable to do so, and the automaton lands on the tracks. Hugo and Splodyhead get on the tracks and try to retrieve it, but struggle to do so. A train approaches, but the Inspector manages to rescue Hugo, Splodyhead, and the automaton a split second before the train would have crushed them. As the Inspector is about to take Hugo to the orphanage and Splodyhead to jail (for he's a murderer), Méliès arrives, claiming Hugo as his child and finally declaring that Splodyhead is an innocent pet. Isabelle gives Hugo the automaton's drawing featuring Splodyhead back, allowing the boy to eventually defeat the Inspector by showing it to him, causing the Inspector to faint. Afterwards, Hugo is approached by the press, who want to interview him. With the help of Isabelle and Méliès, Hugo manages to tell the entire story revolving around Splodyhead attempting to do the right thing during the museum fire incident that occurred a long time ago. Impressed at the story, the press finally concludes that Splodyhead has been proven innocent before wrapping up the interview. With that, Hugo's story is proven true, and the case has been solved. Trailer Production *'Directed by:' Martin Scorsese *'Produced by:' Martin Scorsese, Johnny Depp, Graham King, and Tim Headington *'Written by:' John Logan (screenplay), Brian Selznick (original story) *'Cinematography by:' Robert Richardson *'Musical Score by:' Howard Shore *'Editing by:' Thelma Schoonmaker *'Production Studios:' GK Films and Infinitum Nihil *'Filming Locations:' London's Shepperton Studios, as well as locations in London, England and Paris, France *'Distributed by:' Paramount Pictures *'Run time:' 127 minutes Cast *Asa Butterfield -as- Hugo Cabret *Chloë Grace Moretz -as- Isabelle, Hugo's best friend and partner. *Ben Kingsley -as- Georges Méliès, a film-maker and Isabelle's godfather. *Sacha Baron Cohen -as- the Station Inspector *Jude Law -as- Hugo's father *Christopher Lee -as- Monsieur Labisse, the bookshop owner. *Helen McCrory -as- Mama Jeanne, Méliès's wife. *Michael Stuhlbarg -as- René Tabard, a film historian. *Marco Aponte -as- Julien Carette *Emily Mortimer -as- Lisette, a florist. *Ray Winstone -as- Uncle Claude, Hugo's deceased uncle. *Frances de la Tour -as- Madame Emile, the owner of the café. *Richard Griffiths -as- Monsieur Frick, the newspaper seller. Category:Movies